


Falling

by vix_spes



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friendship, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 05:18:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8565538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: Nobody was expecting the reason behind Gwaine's strange behaviour and sudden change in lifestyle.





	

The fact that he had started throwing up every single time he caught the scent of food or drink should have given the whole thing away. Gwaine didn’t get sick – ever. He had the constitution of a horse, something that he put down to a combination of being Irish and a childhood of his mother’s cooking. Gwaine’s job as a photographer meant that he had travelled the world and eaten some really weird food in the process; both the deep-fried tarantula and goat testicle curry sprang immediately to mind. According to Elena, his assistant, this meant that it was a worrying sign for him to be turning down bacon sandwiches when he usually considered them to be an essential food group.  
  
Gwaine loved Elena dearly – clumsy as she could be, she was bloody brilliant at her job – but he really couldn’t cope with all of her fussing, especially as he was of the opinion that she was overreacting massively. He’d just done three major shoots back to back, each one in a different time zone and he was 100% positive that it was simply his exhaustion manifesting itself as sickness. Elena had looked highly scornful of his attempted explanation and had rolled her eyes so hard Gwaine had been impressed they’d actually stayed in her head, but she hadn’t said anything else for which Gwaine was pathetically grateful. Until Gwaine managed to vomit so much he ended up light-headed enough to pass out and hit his head on the toilet. He woke up in hospital with an IV in one hand and Elena clinging to the other whilst simultaneously flirting with a pretty brunette doctor.  
  
“And it looks like he’s back with us. Hello Mr Lothian, my name is Dr Nemeth. How are you feeling?”  
  
“Like I’ve been run over by a bus. What happened?”  
  
“Your friend says you passed out after prolonged vomiting and hit your head.”  
  
“Huh.”  
  
“Elena said that you’ve been sick a lot recently and more tired than usual. She also said that you’ve also been moody and sensitive to certain smells.”  
  
“It’s not a crime to be moody, is it? And I’m allowed to be exhausted when I’ve been shooting in five different time zones in three weeks.”  
  
“No, it’s not a crime, but it does raise some concerns when it’s as out of character as Elena says it is. Now Gwaine – can I call you Gwaine? - I’ll need to run some tests to be certain, but is there any chance that you could be pregnant?”  
  
“Oh fuck.” Gwaine groaned, squeezing his eyes shut.  
  
“Gwaine?”  
  
Opening one eye and turning his head slightly, Gwaine saw Elena looking at him worriedly. “ _Could_ you be pregnant?”  
  
“No. Yes. Maybe?”  
  
“Okay, so you could maybe be pregnant. Do you maybe know who the father is? Because I didn’t think there had been anyone recently?”  
  
“Leon. Leon was the last person that I slept with. Almost six weeks ago.”  
  
“But I thought you said that you were going to stop sleeping with him?”  
  
“Yes, well. The man is a sex god, his cock should be classified as the eighth wonder of the world, and I’m weak, okay?” Gwaine felt slightly guilty about the awkward silence that ensued after his outburst and was incredibly grateful when Dr Nemeth cleared her throat.  
  
“Okay, well, I’ll go ahead and order these tests. We’ll see if we can confirm if you are pregnant okay, Mr Lothian?  
  
“You might as well call me Gwaine. And thanks.”

(~*~)

  
Several hours later, Gwaine sat on his sofa in his comfiest tracksuit with his hair scraped up in a straggly bun and listened to Elena place an order from their favourite takeaway. The tests that Dr Nemeth – Mithian as she had said to Elena, even as she slipped Elena her phone number – had run had confirmed that yes, Gwaine was pregnant. Unbidden, Gwaine’s hands crept to his stomach, cradling the non-existent bump. Pregnant, he was bloody pregnant and, of course, Leon was the father.  
  
Leon Cameliard was an old friend – and an old lover – of Gwaine’s. They had met at university, become fast friends and maintained that friendship once they all made the move from academia into the real world. They had also never been on so much as a single date. Gwaine was the first person to admit that he was a bit – okay, a lot – of a playboy. He liked flirting, he liked sex, and he was an equal opportunities kind of guy; he didn’t see a problem with any of that. He was rarely in one place for a decent amount of time and he wasn’t a great believer in the whole long distance relationship thing. Leon, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. He’d spent the whole of their time at university invested in a long-distance relationship with his school sweetheart, Morgana, only for it to go disastrously wrong at their graduation when she had dumped Leon in spectacular fashion in favour of a platinum blonde bitch by the name of Morgause.  
  
That night had been the first time that Gwaine and Leon had slept together. The chemistry between the two of them was electric and it had been round four before they actually made it to a bed (Merlin still resembled a tomato if anyone brought up the fact that he’d walked in on them in the disabled loos). Gwaine really hadn’t lied when he had talked about Leon to Elena and Dr Nemeth. For all that Leon appeared to be prim and proper, he could be properly filthy when he wanted to be and statues should be erected in honour of his dick.  
  
As the years had passed, Leon had dated and had relationships while Gwaine had – sometimes selectively, sometimes … not – fucked his way around the world, but they had kept falling into bed together and it was always as good as the first time. Over the last year or so though, Leon’s dating seemed to have ground to a halt and they were tumbling into bed together with almost alarming regularity. Gwaine hadn’t really thought too much about it (other than the fact that he really rather liked regular sex with Leon) until Leon started dropping hints that he wouldn’t be averse to more.  
  
Gwaine had thought about it, realised just how much he actually wanted it as well, and promptly panicked. Then, instead of doing the sensible thing and, you know, talking to Leon, Gwaine instead told Leon that they couldn’t sleep with each other any more and threw himself into his work. It hadn’t been easy, but, other than the one slip-up six weeks ago, Gwaine had stuck to his word.  
  
“So, are we going to talk about this?”  
  
Gwaine looked up to see Elena walk into the room, a bottle of wine and two glasses in her hands. “Should I be drinking given what’s happened today?”  
  
“Probably not, but half a glass won’t be the end of the world. So, Leon?”  
  
“I was drunk and I missed him. We had sex. Not sure what else there is to say.”  
  
“Are you going to tell him?”  
  
“Hang on a minute! I haven’t decided if I’m keeping it or not yet!”  
  
“You’re not usually one to take ages thinking decisions through calmly and rationally; you’re more of a gut instinct kind of guy. So, without thinking about it, yes or no; do you want to keep this baby?”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Both Gwaine and Elena looked at each other in surprise, neither of them having expected that answer.  
  
“Well, fuck.”  
  
“I think that sums it up pretty well.”  
  
Gwaine put up no resistance when Elena pulled him into her embrace and instead sank into it willingly, pillowing his head on her breasts as she held him close.  
  
“The food will be here soon and I won’t say anything more on the subject tonight after it arrives…”  
  
“But?”  
  
“But the reason you stopped sleeping with Leon after he said he wanted more, even though you wanted more as well, was because you were afraid of being tied down. That even though you love Leon, you’d end up resenting him if you settled down. Well, I hate to say it, but you’re going to have to settle down if you keep the baby.”  
  
“I know, I know.”  
  
“Okay, lecture over. Want to watch a film, stuff our faces and pretend you’re not pregnant?”  
  
“Oh god, yes.”

  
~*~

__  
Three months later….  
  
Gwaine couldn’t help but laugh at the antics of Merlin and Arthur as they argued good-naturedly about the fact that Merlin kept stealing Arthur’s bacon off his plate and was totally unrepentant about it. Gwaine could hardly blame him because, under the watchful eye of Elena, Gwaine was no longer allowed his usual brunch choice of greasy fry-up accompanied by bucket-loads of coffee. Instead, he was having pancakes with fruit, a rare side of bacon and tea as Elena was ensuring that he was eating healthily and doing exercise, all in the name of the baby. He looked up as he heard a question directed towards him by Merlin.  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“I said, what’s going on with you? You’re not drinking, choosing to eat healthily, and Percy even said that he saw you doing yoga classes down at the gym. Are you feeling okay? It’s not usual behaviour for you.”  
  
Gwaine smiled weakly, but before he could answer, Arthur chipped in.  
  
“Yeah, it’s almost as though you’re pregnant…”  
  
The gales of laughter that broke out following Arthur’s words faded into awkward silence when Gwaine didn’t refute the claim; an awkward silence that was eventually punctuated by the scrape of Leon’s chair as he shoved it back and stormed out. Gwaine waved off Arthur’s flustered attempts at an apology and stood, following Leon out into the, helpfully deserted, patio area more than aware that their friends were going to be watching through the windows.  
  
“What the hell, Gwaine? You’re pregnant?!”  
  
“Yes, I’m pregnant. Did you want to shout any louder because I don’t think they heard you south of the river…”  
  
“Who’s baby is it? Do you even know?”  
  
“Oh fuck you, Leon! Of course I know whose baby it is.”  
  
“Well?”  
  
Gwaine didn’t bother to respond and instead waited for enlightenment to dawn; Leon was far from stupid after all. Having said that, that was debatable considering how long it was taking him this morning. Finally, Gwaine saw the moment that realisation hit and a play of emotions that Gwaine couldn’t quite decipher quickly enough crossed across Leon’s face.  
  
“It’s mine. The baby’s mine? Were you ever going to tell me?”  
  
“Yes, eventually. I didn’t exactly know how to broach the subject; I figured that I wasn’t exactly your favourite person for the way that I behaved.”  
  
“Maybe not for a while, but I wasn’t lying when I said that I wanted more. I still do.” Leon raked a hand through his hair and took a step closer.   
“Look, I know we’ve gone about this all arse over tit but can we have a do-over?”  
  
“Well, much as I like the idea, I don’t think we can send the baby back…” Gwaine couldn’t help but rub a hand over his stomach as he spoke, the action having become second nature over the last few months.  
  
“Idiot. I know we can’t send the baby back, but we could maybe start with a date?”  
  
The look of hope on Leon’s face sent the same emotion fluttering through Gwaine. Having accepted that wanting this baby, that having this baby, meant settling down, Gwaine couldn’t deny that settling down with Leon was no longer quite so utterly terrifying. “A date sounds good, but you should know that your baby wants to eat some weird things … I hope you’re prepared.”  
  
“My baby? And when is it going to be your baby? Or our baby?” Leon was now within inches of Gwaine, his hand hovering above Gwaine’s hip.  
  
“It’ll be my baby when it’s behaving, of course.” Gwaine’s eyes were flicking between Leon’s eyes and lips involuntarily and he could see Leon doing the same. Involuntarily, he felt his body sway into Leon’s and decided to take a risk. “How about starting with a kiss rather than a date?”  
  
“I think that can be arranged.”


End file.
